 Solution

Let the square contain the Euclidean ball of radius $R$, set $r_x=\max (1,\Vert x\Vert )$, and define the logarithmic cutoffThen ${\phi }_0=1$ and $\phi =0$ on the boundary. On an edge at radius comparable to $r$, the mean value theorem gives $|{\phi }_x-{\phi }_y|\le C/(r\log R)$. There are $O(r)$ edges in the annulus of radius $r$, hence the discrete Dirichlet energy satisfiesThis logarithmic cutoff is the discrete manifestation of recurrence in two dimensions.